Closer Look: EVGA GTX 560 Ti 448 Cores FTW

The EVGA GeForce GTX 560 Ti 448 Cores FTW came in a green box that highlighted the features of the GPU and had some fancy logos. I like the look of the box and I think it stands out pretty well. The FTW designation, for those who may now know, stands for "For the Win". It's a gamer term usually associated with something that allows a gamer to achieve victory. If I use a knife to kill someone in Battlefield 3, I might say something like, "Knife kill FTW!" Anyway, the GTX 560 Ti 448 Cores FTW is one of two versions of the 448 Core GTX 560 Ti that EVGA is releasing. The other is the GTX 560 Ti 448 Cores Classified, which will be even more limited in its distribution than the FTW version.

Speaking of limited distribution, the GTX 560 Ti 448 Cores video cards from every manufacturer are going to be limited. NVIDIA is only releasing a certain amount of the GTX 560 Ti 448 Cores GPUs and they will only be available for a limited time. NVIDIA, it seems, is just trying to capitalize on a gap in the market segment for the holiday season 2011 and the associate game releases. While we discussed the stock specifications of the GTX 560 Ti 448 Cores, EVGA has made some adjustments for the GTX 560 Ti 448 Cores FTW video card.

Those specifications include a 797MHz core graphics clock speed and a memory clock of 3900MHz compared to a stock graphics clock speed of 732MHz and a stock memory clock speed of 3800MHz. The CUDA Cores are, therefore, clocked at double the core graphics clock, which is 1464MHz stock and 1594MHz on the EVGA FTW card. EVGA hasn't messed around with memory amounts on the FTW version of the GTX 560 Ti 448 Cores. There is still 1280MB of GDDR5 memory with a bit width of 320 bits.

The EVGA GeForce GTX 560 Ti 448 Cores FTW doesn't look much different from the EVGA GTX 560 Ti cards. The video card is completely shrouded with the fan in the middle. Because of that shroud, the GTX 560 Ti 448 Cores FTW takes up two PCI slots, but that is normal for any GTX 560 or better card. The I/O panel is perforated at the top to allow warm air an escape from within your systems enclosure. The top and bottom of the GTX 560 Ti 448 Cores FTW are not perforated, however. The EVGA GeForce GTX 560 Ti 448 FTW requires two six-pin PCI-E power connectors, also normal for GTX 560 video cards.

The I/O capabilities on the GTX 560 Ti 448 Cores FTW are also very standard in comparison to most of the recent video card selections. There are two Dual-Link DVI-I HDCP capable connectors. Because they are both Dual-Link, either one will support a 3D monitor. This is not always the case. There is also a single HDMI 1.4a connector and a single DisplayPort 1.1a connector. The accessories that came with the EVGA GeForce GTX 560 Ti 448 Cores FTW include a driver and software disc, a DVI to VGA adapter, two six-pin PCI-E power cable adapters, and the user's guide. I am again disappointed to find no DisplayPort adapter of any kind. I am hoping that someday, the DVI to VGA adapters will finally be replaced with some DisplayPort to DVI adapters. Although, with an NVIDIA card like the GTX 560 Ti 448 Cores FTW, it doesn't really matter that much. I am limited to a two monitor configuration anyway, and that can be accomplished through the use of both DVI ports or one DVI and one HDMI connection. Oh yeah, the GTX 560 Ti 448 Cores FTW also came with a full-sized poster. Awesome. EVGA poster FTW!

One of the more interesting things I thought I would mention about the GTX 560 Ti 448 Cores is that you can't pair them in an SLI configuration with a traditional GTX 560 Ti. While this makes sense, I thought I'd mention it in case you were planning on adding this bad boy to your current rig by connecting it to your video card in SLI. The reason it won't connect is because it is, essentially, a different card. It could be called the GTX 565 or, more appropriately, the GTX 568, since it is really closer in performance to the GTX 570 than the GTX 560 Ti. With a different core count and a different frame buffer size, the GTX 560 Ti 448 Cores couldn't be paired with a GTX 560 Ti. That being said, the GTX 560 Ti 448 Cores does support both two-way and three-way SLI configurations with other GTX 560 Ti 448 Cores video cards.

As far as size matters, the EVGA GeForce GTX 560 Ti 448 Cores FTW measures 4.376 inches in height, 9 inches in length, and weighs 2 lbs. And oh, did I mention it came with a poster?

Now, before we get into the testing, let's take a look at the specifications of the EVGA GTX 560 Ti 448 Cores FTW.

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